A report from the Western front...

So, I am now, 2500 miles closer to my wife Karen, and so far the trip has been nothing short of note worthy. I flew Virgin America direct BOS to LAX Friday night, and arrived a bit earlier than expected, but of course the luggage carousel took longer to unload to things all balanced out.

Once my aunt Sharon, uncle Ngok and cousin Michelle picked me up, I was on my way to the O.C, and the wonderful suburban vibe of Irvine CA. All I can tell you for now is... WOW. The setting was pretty much all you could ask for to have the recognition of a top place to settle down in. You just have to come here, either to visit your family or to make friends with mine in order to enjoy all it has to offer.

So after an incredibly deep and comfortable rest I woke up to the tune of mid 60's and sunny skies, quite a contrast from New England starting around this time. Don't get me wrong, Boston will ALWAYS be my home, but this definitely was a treat. After a brisk stroll around the area with the fam, I met up with my other cousin Howard and his two great kids. We took a tour of his place (up until this point I thought the first place was grand..), drove down to a wilflife sanctuary a place close to Newport

So a nice fusion lunch around the area, then after returning home for my fam to rest I met up with my friend Brian and his fiance Jamie to head over to Huntington Beach. Some reminiscing and a wonderful send off by the two of them and I returned to the fam for another lovely meal.

Sunday was pretty much an all day extra fam day, with me seeing my Aunt Janet, uncle Sammy, cousins Gary, Wendy, Betty along with a whole bunch of lil' runts (just kidding!) and then some more chatting amongst everyone. Here's the thing about the Southern California area... you may say you live close to LA, or even just an hour's drive away... what distinguishes this from other cities with more density, like Boston or New York, is that the freeway traffic and congestion don't allow for frequent get togethers,or as much as you would like... that's why I was amazed when all my family were able to get together at one central point, stretching from the OC through Alhambra, up to the San Fernando Valley, and be so happy to see each other again.

I saw family, but in addition I got to see the Beverly Hills-esque area of San Marino with the rows of palm trees along the streets, block after block of cultural shopping plazas, and one of the largest concentrations of Asian communities this side of Boston *wink wink*

All in all, this has been a great experience for me, but I still miss my East Coast family, and hope everyone is doing wel back home - mom, dad, sis, bro-in-law, baby Nathan, the in law fam, uncles and aunts, cousins and "cousins", little tykes, college/high school friends, and those close family friends... in just a few short days I will be back on the plane to Asia, and my connection with this country will be limited to Skype and EMail for the time being... until that moment however I'm going to soak up the California sun as much as I can, in spite of its 9% sales tax and outrageous gas prices hehe.

Take care everyone, and know that the same is being done for me here!

Regards,

Kent

Dim Sum Fun

A few of us woke up bright and early one weekend morning and made a hike to an area called "Old Klang Road" to have us some delicious Dim Sum breakfast. Now I love Dim Sum; nothing is as good as filling one's empty and growling stomach with some of those bite-sized, tasty morsels. I'll try not to say too much but rather, let pictures do the talking.

One of my favorite Dim Sum dish is what I personally call "Fried Har Gow" (note: depicted in the top right picture). It's really what I call it - a Har Gow, only fried and there is a sweet, lemon-based mayonaise that you dip it with. I have not been able to find this dish in Boston. Funnily, this Dim Sum dish was abundant in Montreal chinatown. I don't need to explain what the center picture is since you probably know what it is if you are a frequent Dim-Sum eater. The top left dish is a butterflied shrimp on top of some pork. Yummy. Again, I have no idea what it is called.

Just some other dishes that we ordered. The dish depicted in the top right are clams stuffed with meatballs. I have never seen a dim sum dish like that; it was pretty darn good.

And now, onto my new found love...something which we call "Mango Whiskers". Just imagine a springroll stuffed with juicy (and sweet) mango paste and then wrapped with crispy noodles and deep fried. It's perfection.

All right...after all that good food, I am heading off to do some reading and then out for a run. Till next time.....

Food...Glorious Food!

I simply have to agree that one can travel the whole wide world, and yet still be spoiled for choice at the abundance of food available in Malaysia. Due to its strategic position along the spice route, Malaysia was colonised by the Portugese, the Dutch and finally the British. Not to mention, the Chinese and the Indian immigrants to migrated to this area. As a result, the food we get here is a delicious blend of years of intermixing of european, chinese, indian and south east asian influence.

One of the protege of this so called racial blending is what the locals call "Western Food". Sure you can get your filet mignon and your steaks at the Steakhouses, but if you are craving for cheap yet incredible satiable "western" food, then you head to the "coffee-shops" or "kopi-tiams" as we Malaysians call it.

Last weekend, we went to a local restaurant to have some Malaysian "western food".

The menu for the "western food" was simple and fuss free. You can't see the prices very well but it about USD 3.00 to 8.00 depending on the type of meat and style of preparation. Our meal came with complimentary toasted butter rolls. And of course, no meal is complete in Malaysia without some form of heat; in this case, the infamous Maggi Chili Sauce.

From left to right: Garlic Chicken Chop, Mexican Chicken Chop and Fish & Chips. Portions were generous and filling. Of course, this isn't a 5-star Michelin meal, nor is it anything fancy. But for the price, it was good. What more can one ask for.

Carb overload

I woke up this morning and had a craving for some chinese steamed "bao". So my parents and I made the short journey to a local restaurant. There, we bought the typical char siu bao but when I was there, there was a new (at least to me) type of bao called "volcano bao". To put it simply, it was a bao stuffed with glutinous rice and meat. Imagine a "loh mai kai" stuffed into a bao. And to be honest, it's darn good!

Sweet, gooey and fragrant glutinous rice stuffed with meat, mushroom and a salted egg yolk. All this goodness wrapped in warm doughy bread.

And of course, what breakfast would it be without the infamous loh mai kai.

And mounds of char siu bao.

Seriously....this is one big carb and fat overload!

Waiting is no easy job

116 days

That’s how long KW and I have been apart. Five years of being together, add in 2 years of marriage, we were lucky we never had to spend time apart.

When we made the decision to relocate (due to a conglomerate of reasons), it was agreed between me and KW that I will go to Kuala Lumpur first and that he will join me in approximately 5 months.

In the beginning, we thought this was easy. Sure we can do it. After all, 5 months is a really short time. Besides, time flies. 5 months apart was going to be a walk in the park. Easy Peasy!

Or so we thought. In reality, time seems to be moving at a snail-speed. I now have a new found appreciation for families who have to be separated due to work and responsibilities as well as all the couples in long-distance relationships. It's not easy. Trust me on this.

However, being a glass half-full kinda person, it's only 27 days  before we're reunited.

Trick or Treat by Mother Nature? More like a Trick...

It's not even Halloween in the United States, yet the Northeast is experiencing it's first significant snowfall of the year as a fluke Nor'Easter is hitting. For those who don't know what a New England Nor'Easter is, here's the definition in a nutshell - a warm and moisture filled-storm heading up the eastern seaboard of the United States comes into contact with a drainage of cold dry air whipping in from the Northeast, creating a hurricane like effect circling the area, and the combination of the two conflicting forces creates a significant amount of precipation in its path.

The effects are compounded and more noticeable during winter time when the cold air creates wet mushy snow rather than the light powder. You can imagine how annoying that gets for people around the area as it can cause power outages by downed power lines, closing of schools and other non-essential public services, and a backlog of traffic problems. Usually these do not occur until the full force of winter hits upon the area including colder temperatures and a shifting of the jet streams. Ironically the ideal conditions are temperatures just around the freezing mark (O celsius, 32 farenheit). For such a storm to develop and hit us so early in the season is a rare occurence, our plow and snow removal services aren't even fully prepared yet!

For a sample of this nuisance, take a look at the pictures below. Please don't mind the darkness, it's evening, and my phone camera is not the highest resolution...

I guess Mother Nature decided to let me know that I won't be getting away that easy.... oh well.

Kent
2011 29AUG

Authentic Americana amiss...

So while I am abroad in Southeast Asia the culture of food will be both different and the same simultaneously; on one hand I don't have to worry about starvation or fear of going hungry in the middle of the night - stalls open til the wee hours. However what I will definely miss is the authentic Americana - classical college style pizzas, comfort fried chicken, creamy clam chowders, and last but not least those greasy homey USDA grade beef burgers...

I just went to Boston Burger Company last night with some friends, and my taste buds just totally savored every morsel of our bites from this awesome local joint in Davis Square, Somerville MA - near Tufts University. Below are just a sample of what the next two years will not bring me sadly enough...

First a starter, courtesy of Andrew Choy: spicy barbecue boneless chicken wings with cool blue cheese to tamper the heat...

Next we have the mail course: the Inferno burger - Homemade habañero salsa, cheddar cheese and spicy chili pepper mayo topping a 100% Angus style beef patty on sandwiched between a toasted bun. Paired with homemade potato chips (Crisps for you Englanders...) and a side of baked beans with bacon essence.... man you can't go wrong here.

As I go along the next three weeks I'll try to profile other items of culinary interest which I will miss having on an "as-needed" basis without having to go to a "Western food outlet"...

Of course, this will be a complement to the wide array of food offerings that I will get to sample from the local society, and I will not beg or choose between any of them... this will be my world travel experience, after all...

Until next time, keep your friends close, and your favorite foods closer!